Published 12:00 am, Friday, March 9, 2012

A former caregiver who was sent to jail last year for using a credit card to steal from a woman with Alzheimer's disease was recently found guilty of violating her probation and sent to prison.

Prosecutors said Kathleen Vuylsteke contacted Harold Weisberg, the husband of Marion Weisberg, from jail. A judge had previously ordered Vuylsteke to have no contact with her victims.

Harold Weisberg, 84, had hired Vuylsteke to help care for his wife in their Bloomfield Township home. Marion is 85.

Weisberg said he fired Vuylsteke in March 2011 after he caught her lying about a scheduling matter. His son later noticed some unusual charges on Marion's credit card, which hadn't been used for months. The credit card was used to buy gasoline and make payments on a car.

The losses totaled about $800, according to police. Oakland County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Paul Walton said this week that Vuylsteke hasn't paid the money back.

Late last year, Vuylsteke pleaded guilty to four counts of stealing/retaining a financial transaction device. Oakland Circuit Judge Wendy Potts sentenced her to one year of jail and four years of probation.

Walton said Vuylsteke contacted Harold Weisberg from jail in violation of the court's no contact order.

"She called me three times from jail. I refused to accept the calls," Weisberg said.

Weisberg said Vuylsteke also sent him two letters.

Walton said Vuylsteke alleged that Weisberg had been harassing one of her friends, and she contacted him to try to get him to stop. The friend had also worked as a caregiver in the Weisberg home. Weisberg denied harassing the friend, Walton said.

"The reality is the court said no contact, and no contact means no contact," Walton said. "The victim's husband ... was very upset by the defendant's contact with him."

At a hearing Wednesday, Vuylsteke, a 45-year-old Eastpointe resident, was found guilty of violating her probation. Potts revoked the probation and sentenced her to 14 months to 15 years in prison, with credit for the time she's already spent behind bars.

Weisberg said he was satisfied with the sentence Potts issued.

"I'm glad that the judicial system worked the way it was supposed to work," he said.

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Vuylsteke's attorney, Elbert Hatchett, could not immediately be reached for comment Friday.